The Great Debates: Arnold Schwarzenegger or Sylvester Stallone – THE WINNER IS…

Ok, this is actually the first poll I’ve “Closed” here on the site. But after the fantastic response to this edition of “The Great Debates”, I felt that people needed some closure!

After a week of voting, more than 80 people voted and our discussion ran over 125 comments. The result was EXTREMELY close. This was an even match, a hard-fought battle, a well-earned victory…

For one of them.

Click through to see who won!

Arnold Schwarzenegger

By a VERY narrow margin, Arnold Schwarzenegger prevails!

That is a very small percentage of the overall vote separating the two. Just over 5%!

To the victor go the spoils! Here are some of the things that Schwarzenegger fans had to say!

There’s no way that Stallone stays down, however. Rocky was never knocked out (Well, except by Clubber Lang, but only because he was worried about Mickey)! There was way too much action here not to resurrect this at some point. It HAS to be revisited in the future. What I’m saying is There IS gonna be a rematch!! Stallone Schwarzenegger II… at an undisclosed future date when you least expect it!

Thanks again to everyone who participated and especially to those who helped spread the word through RTs and Facebook shares! It was a really, really fun discussion!

You aint so bad! You aint so bad! You aint Nothin’!

THANKS FOR CHECKING OUT THIS POST! :D BE SURE TO CHECK OUT THE REST OF THE MOVIE RELATED CONTENT AND FUN HERE BY CHECKING OUT THE FRONT PAGE! JUST CLICK THE BANNER BELOW!

Darn! I didn’t get to vote. I’m a big fan of Stallone. The lines he uses are epic and very motivating. Arnold has some great movies too. I definitely see the struggle between these 2 figures. Even though I’m a Stallone fan, “True Lies” did me in.

My criterion for choosing the “winner” would have to be “Which one is responsible for the greatest movie-going experience”. On this basis, two of my great movie peak-experiences ever were:

Rambo, First Blood Part 2

and

The Terminator

In each of these movies, I was screaming out and smiling ear to ear.
However, Stallone’s performance was more nuanced and artful than Arnold’s — he was playing a flawed and emotional human being, of course, whereas Arnold was playing a robot with only one countenance. I believed each of them completely and totally in their respective roles: Stallone was John Rambo, and Arnold was the Terminator, and it has always bothered me that Stallone came to be ridiculed for his supposed lack of acting skills. While it may be true that he can’t act in a Dolly Parton comedy, he is one of the best when it comes to creating a believable character on screen, as he did in the first two Rambo movies (and the early Rocky movies).

PS: The highest, most exhilarating and spiritual experience I’ve ever had in a movie experience was in……The Matrix. There is no comparison: the movie succeeds on absolutely every level (and there are about 10 levels, including the most profound).

PPS: The most disappointing, enraging movie experience I have had was seeing a movie that nearly everyone thinks is a masterpiece (but which is definitely not)….Batman, The Dark Knight. I won’t elaborate here, but this is my review:http://wp.me/pMW8w-2r

Wellllll… we’re going to have to agree to disgaree on your PPS, but if you’re a fan of “The Matrix” that’s awesome, that movie was mind blowing. It certainly can be an enlightening movie – although while I’d like to believe in the malleable nature of reality, I’d prefer to hope that its NOT due to us being living batteries for machines. :D

Meanwhile, you’re definitely right, Stallone CAN act. I always point to Copland, where he was great. Rambo, of course, is a much more difficult acting challenge than the robotic terminator…

I agree with the criterion, but I would have to expand it to the overall sum of all their films. I dont know that I could narrow it down to just a singular offering from either of them. Theyve given too much over the years!

Really now, The Dark Knight is pure pain in that the alleged “hero” can’t confront evil and instead allows a mass murderer to avoid death and to escape. This is not enjoyable to watch — life is hard enough to not have to see the bad guy win while the good guy suffers impotence in every scene. You think Rambo would have let the Joker run free? Not quite…

But that’s part of the core of Batman. It’s a line he wont cross… he feels that killing for any reason is an evil, its tied on to his “origin”. Its something that the character has grappled with for 80 years now. (Although I believe in early issues he did kill…)

There are alternate heroes to fill that need, obviously.

Still, in terms of a film, The Dark Knight is everything it’s cracked up to be. Its a top notch action flick, expertly directed and acted, with loads of great themes… all involving some of the most popular characters in pop culture, Batman and his supporting cast! I love it.

Just had to throw this out there. In the 90’s I was an Arnold fan all the way. I wouldn’t even watch a Stallone movie. I thought he was nothing compaired to Arnold. THen I watched First Blood…
So. I love Arnold. But, what I love about Stallone, and why I wish he would have won is, he writes and directs most of his movies. He directed Rambo 4 which is one of my all time favorite movies. Stallone is a story teller. He tells warrior tales. And IMPO he is one of the most under rated story tellers of our generation.
So. Arnold may have won, and he is awesome…but I am a Stallone fan forever.

Rambo 4 WAS awesome, wasn’t it? I couldnt believe how well he did with both that AND “Rocky Balboa”! I mean, when I first heard they were both getting sequels, it was a little eye rolling, wasn’t it? So many other movies have come back decades after the fact and just sucked… but both of those were excellent additions to their respective series. He did such a great job.

The writing/directing angle was a huge factor for a lot of people in the voting. A LOT of people cited that. So its a really solid factor to choose…

Sorry your guy didnt win, but there WILL be a rematch here one day, hope you stick around for it. Sly is gonna need his fans if he wants to overcome! :D

I’ve I’d seen the poll I would have voted Arnie also. Even though I love Stallone, including some of the later output that people have forgotten (Cop Land!) my top ten favourite movies of all time includes T1, T2, Predator, and Conan The Barbarian, so no one comes close!

No, you’re right there. Thats for sure. If you’re hung up on who to decide on? The “Serious Movie” element would be a good tiebreaker… and in that case? It probably goes to Stallone. Although the two Terminator movies werent very campy or anything…

(Christian-Comment) The Terminators might have been a little philosophical, but no match (speaking of the “seriousness” of their topic) for Rambo (Vietnam-trauma, how the people treated the homecoming veterans) or Cop Land (corruption).
Of course, their most epic moment was their meeting in Expendables!

Thanks! Its awesome that so many people are checking it out, you know? Its great.

I would say that even with the violence, the Terminator movies are both really excellently done, with great stories and characters. It’s not as… pointless… as some of the others in these twos filmography might be. :D

Don’t forget Sly wrote ALL the Rocky films and directed all but number 5, making him one of the most successful writer/directors. Rocky became one of the most successful movie franchises, as did Rambo! Also, don’t forget Tango and Cash, Demolition Man, The Specialist, Assassins… Get stuffed Arnie ;-)

Ah! If you’re interested, I compiled a top 100 films I love from 70’s, 80’s & 90’s with one rule: a only film by director. The selection was very difficult (The names of the films are in spanish but everybody knows which are). Greetings

congratulations to you on FP. It is a pretty fun experience. While I am fans of both and can appreciate that Arnold is Conan, for my money I am taking Mr. Stallone. The original Rambo and Rocky were way more than the stuff he did later in his career. Those were great stories too. I love me some terminator but if I had to choose I am going with the Italian Stallion, cut me Mick.